For 60 years, Holy Cross High School/Academy in Delran has been both a blessing and an important resource in the Diocese of Trenton, providing a quality Catholic education to families in Burlington County and beyond.

During that time, this diocesan high school has seen significant growth, at one point even requiring the construction of a larger facility. More recently, however, the school, like many others across the nation, has experienced serious decline in both its enrollment and its ability to sustain itself financially. More ...Wednesday, December 13, 2017

In these days leading up to Christmas, it is not unusual to hear the question “What would you like for Christmas?”

I have a pretty big list – four counties worth! – but, if asked, I would be quick to respond, “more seminarians for the Diocese of Trenton!” That wish was evident on Saturday evening, Dec. 9, when 13 local young men braved the season’s first snowstorm and came to my residence in Princeton for dinner and conversation about the priesthood.More ...Tuesday, December 12, 2017

The Diocese of Trenton will join faithful throughout the country in supporting retired sisters, brothers and religious order priests with a collection to be held in all parishes the weekend of Dec. 9-10. The 30th annual appeal for the Retirement Fund for Religious is coordinated by the National Religious Retirement Office and benefits some 32,000 aging Catholic sisters, brothers and priests in religious orders across the country.

The U.S. Catholic bishops initiated the collection in 1988 to help address the deficit in retirement savings among the nation’s religious congregations. Proceeds are distributed to eligible congregations to help underwrite retirement and health-care expenses. Roughly 94 percent of donations aid elderly religious.

According to data made available by the NRRO, faithful of the Diocese of Trenton last year gave $328,710.80 to the collection, which was the second highest amount collected among the five New Jersey arch/dioceses. Of that donation, $10,254 was allocated for direct support to the Monastery of St. Clare in Chesterfield.

An organization of Catholic men and women who have made a solemn promise to “always be loyal to Christ” and conduct their lives “in accordance with Christian moral and religious principles” welcomed new members to its ranks during an Investiture Mass Oct. 21 in St. Patrick Cathedral, New York.More ...Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Villa Vianney, the retirement home for priests of the Diocese in Lawrenceville, was filled with tidings of good cheer the evening of Dec. 5 as Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., joined his brother priests for a special Christmas visit.More ...Wednesday, December 6, 2017

After hours of being carried through the streets of Trenton with much fanfare Dec. 2, the seven torches that had been touring the Diocese for a month in honor Our Lady of Guadalupe were brought one by one to the front of the nearly full St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.

It was there that the Diocese’s second annual “Las Antorchas Guadalupanas,” or Guadalupe torches pilgrimage, came to a crescendo, as an estimated 1,000 of faithful – many donning traditional Hispanic dress or carrying musical instruments – came together for a Mass celebrated in Spanish and English by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., and concelebrated by 14 of the Diocese’s priests.

Timothy E. Ryan was born in Orange and is a graduate of Howell High School. He attended St. Joseph Seminary for Franciscan Friars in Pulaski, Wisc., and graduated from The American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service, New York.More ...Monday, December 4, 2017

Thomas J. Viggiano, III, looks upon his investiture as a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre not as an end goal for a life of faithful service, but rather as another step closer to Christ.More ...Monday, December 4, 2017

It may be hard to imagine how anyone might cover thousands of years of Salvation History during a single Saturday seminar.

But with internationally acclaimed evangelist and biblical scholar Jeff Cavins presenting the timeline of the Bible, more than 400 seminar participants – many from out of state and more than 100 being catechists – were kept engaged as they were led on a spiritual journey that moved seamlessly from the Old Testament to the New.

Knights of Columbus members from throughout the Diocese of Trenton gathered Nov. 17 to express their admiration and appreciation for their spiritual shepherd at the biennial Bishop’s Appreciation Dinner. Held in St. Martha Parish, Point Pleasant, the event was hosted by the fraternal organization’s Trenton Federation and attended by more than 230 Knights, clergy and guests.

With family, faithful and members of the brotherhood they hope to join looking on as witnesses, the five-year journey of 15 men to ordination in the ancient order of the diaconate came closer to reality Nov. 19 in St. Joseph Church, Toms River.More ...Tuesday, November 28, 2017

The annual collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) will be held at all Masses the weekend of Nov. 18-19, which coincides with the Church’s celebration of the first World Day of the Poor.More ...Friday, November 17, 2017

Nestled into the Great Upper Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., is a shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the curved walls creating a cloak of comfort for all who enter to pray.

In the center, an image of the Marian apparition that appeared to the young Mexican peasant Juan Diego in 1531 shines like a beacon, and on either side, the walls are adorned with paintings of pilgrims bearing torches as they approach the Virgin Mary.More ...Thursday, November 16, 2017